Discovery

I made the now-familiar drive from Little Rock to Houston last night. Although I was dreading it when I left town yesterday afternoon, it turned out to be one of the more enjoyable drives I've had in a while. The weather was clear, the stars were beautiful and bright, and my mind was easy and engaged (as opposed to restlessly spinning, hamster wheel style).

Somewhere south on Highway 59, going through one of those little east Texas towns that are deserted after 8pm, I remembered the Leonard Cohen music I downloaded a few days ago. My impression from the few snippets I listened to was that he might be a little mellow. I was a bit concerned about that, because it was getting late, it was dark, and I really didn't want someone singing me a lullaby. That's not typically a good combination for the flip side of a long drive. Fortunately, I couldn't have been more incorrect in my assumption about his music. I started his "Live in London" CDs and listened to his songs for the next hour and a half. As I pulled into the driveway of my friends' house around 11:30 last night, I reluctantly turned the music off.

The music is fairly simple in how it is written; it doesn't feel all that complex, although I could be embarrassingly wrong. But the instruments often sing their own songs, and the lyrics create so much imagery that the songs hold your attention, even if your mind tries to wander. The rhythms are sometimes unusual, sometimes playful, and feel like a mix of blues and waltz at times. I'm woefully inadequate at describing the technical components of music, so I'll leave it at that.

Instead, I'll just say how exciting it feels to discover someone new (well, new to me - he's been around awhile). I found myself grinning like an idiot in the dark car because I enjoyed the wordplay of the lyrics so, so much. It's the kind of thing you do if you are two or three glasses into a bottle of wine - you enjoy the hell out of some new trinket that you just discovered, but when you later sober up you realize it really wasn't all that great. Last night, though, I promise I was sober - I was driving, remember? And it really was all that great. 

I woke up with the song "Hallelujah" going through my head this morning. Even though I was going on too little sleep (see: caffeine + late hours + long drive), it was a comforting way to wake up, and a reminder that I still have more new songs to listen to today. It also reminds me that I should be a bit more alert to breaking out of my bubble and looking for things that are new to me when they present themselves - the universe isn't always going to kick me in the ass several times. Duly noted.